Game: Bejeweled 3

Platform: 3DS

Publisher: PopCap

Developer: PopCap

ESRB: E

Genre: Match three

Players: 1

What's Hot: Varied, interesting game modes, badges fuel your inner hoarder

What's Not: The match three genre has a lot more competition than it used to

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Review by: Brandon "Gold mine" Cackowski-Schnell

One year after PopCap reasserted its dominance in the match three space with the PC release of Bejeweled 3, they bring their mastery of gem matching to the DS without losing an iota of content. Unfortunately, there’s nothing new in this port either, but chances are the fans of the PC edition are still too busy playing their version to care one way or another.

With the level of polish that PopCap brings to the table, matching three gems in a never ending quest to clear the board would be enough to keep you occupied for hours on end. Sure, three gems are a hoot, but why not try and match enough gems to get one of those super powered gems that clear out an entire column and row? Or how about nabbing one of those explosive gems that take out a huge square of unsuspecting, glittering rocks? Better yet, try for a hypercube, a gem so destructive that it needs only be paired with another gem to destroy every gem of the same color on the board.

Sure, that might be enough to keep you occupied, but why stop there? The game includes eight game modes that alter the gem matching strategy enough to make them all feel different, but keep the same basic tenets in place, allowing you to transfer between modes with ease. The hardest part, really, is figuring out which one to play next. I’m partial to Butterfly, where the goal is to match colored butterflies with like-colored gems in order to free them from the board before they migrate upwards and get devoured by a spider. Oh sure, you can just restart when a butterfly gets eaten, but the little cries for help as the insects meet their doom will make you feel bad about failing.

Then again, I really like poker. Hands are built from gem matches with more points given to better hands. As you make your way from game to game, certain hands are assigned a skull chip. Make that hand and you have to flip the chip. Get a lucky clover and you get to play another hand. Get the skull and, well, I’m sure you can figure it out. Sometimes I like to kick back and use my gem matching skills to mine for gold and other precious metals. Sometimes I like to play ice storm mode where columns creep towards the top of the board and only my gem matching can freeze them or knock them down. Sometimes I like a good lightning round where time dwindles down, replenished only by matching gems. Sometimes I like to just kick it in Zen mode. No timer, no goals, nothing but gems and music and getting to know my inner gem matcher.

If matching without goals isn’t your thing, flip over to quest mode and get a sample of all of the different modes with varying goals and objectives. Fulfill the goals and you get -- you guessed it -- a gem that gets slotted in the current item of interest. Once all of the gems are obtained, a new item is unlocked and you’re on your way to bedazzling it.

On the one hand, if you played the PC version, you might be disappointed to see that the DS version is identical, with no new content or anything to distinguish it other than the smaller size and less impressive graphics. On the other hand, there’s a ton of content here, the price is the same and you can bring it with you anywhere.

PopCap’s excellent run of moving their properties from the PC to the DS continues and any fan of the match three genre will find plenty to get excited about. The modes are great, the music is great, there’s plenty to do, there are badges to obsess over and a trippy zen mode to play once things get a bit too hectic. It may not stray from the original, and it may not do anything to convert those not already enamored with gem matching, but when the original is so good, there’s no reason to change anything.

Brandon Cackowski-Schnell is a regular contributor to GameShark and is the cohost of Jumping the Shark , GameShark.com's official podcast and co-founder of No High Scores.

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